Charlie, Meg and Me: An epic 530 mile walk recreating Bonnie Prince Charlie's escape after the disaster of Culloden

By Gregor Ewing

For the first time, Bonnie Prince Charlie's arduous escape of 1746 has been recreated in a single journey. The author, along with his faithful border collie Meg, retraces the Prince's epic 530 mile walk through remote wilderness, hidden glens, modern day roads and uninhabited islands. Gregor Ewing tells the Prince's story alongside the trials of his own present day journey, whilst reflecting on the plight of the highlanders who, despite everything, loyally protected their rightful prince. The author's love of history and the landscape in which he travels shines through in this modern day adventure. BACK COVER: Charlie: Prince Charles Edward Stuart, second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland, instigator of the Jacobite uprising of 1945, fugitive with a price of ?30,000 on his head following the disaster of Culloden, romantic figure of heroic failure. Meg: My faithful, four-legged companion, carrier of supplies, listener of my woes, possessor of my only towel. Me: An ordinary guy from Falkirk only just on the right side of 40, the only man in a houseful of women, with a thirst for a big adventure, craving an escape from everyday life. For the first time, Bonnie Prince Charlie's arduous escape of 1746 has been recreated in a single journey. The author, along with his faithful border collie Meg, retraces Charlie's epic 530 mile walk through remote wilderness, hidden glens, modern day roads and uninhabited Ewing tells the Prince's story alongside the trials of his own present day journey, whilst reflecting on the plight of the highlanders who, despite everything, loyally protected their rightful prince. The author's love of history and the landscape in which he travels shines through in this modern day adventure. One of the strengths of this man and dog travelogue is the neat way it stitches together history with the writer's personal journey. The balance is perfect. TONY POLLARD

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luath Press
• Release date: Jul 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781909912076

Book preview

GREGOR EWING has combined his passion for the outdoors with his love of Scottish history in undertaking the six-week journey that led to Charlie, Meg and Me. Always looking to widen his knowledge of Scotland’s past, he is as happy trawling through a tome by a warm fire as he is exploring ruins and battlefields. His outdoor exploits were initially a means of gaining fitness, but after completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award and steadily ticking off Munros, he has come to appreciate the beauty and freedom of Scotland’s remote landscapes more than ever. Gregor is based in Falkirk, where he works in property management and lives with his wife, Nicola, their three daughters, Sophie, Kara and Abbie, and their dogs, Meg and Ailsa.

Charlie, Meg and Me

An epic 530 mile walk recreating Bonnie Prince Charlie’s escape after the disaster of Culloden

GREGOR EWING

Luath Press Limited

EDINBURGH

www.luath.co.uk

First Published 2013

eBook 2013

ISBN (print): 978-1-908373-61-8

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-909912-07-6

Maps © Gregor Ewing. Base map information supplied by Open Street & Cycle Map (and) contributors (www.openstreetmap.org), and reproduced under the Creative Commons Licence.

Images on page 14 and 231, and on page 1 of colour section are reproduced under the Creative Commons Licence.

© Gregor Ewing 2013

Contents

List of Maps

Acknowledgements

Foreword by Dr Tony Pollard

Notes on the text

Prologue

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

CHAPTER 2 From Culloden to Arisaig

CHAPTER 3 The Western Isles

CHAPTER 4 The Isles of Skye and Raasay

CHAPTER 5 Mallaig to Glen Shiel

CHAPTER 6 Glen Cannich then Lochiel country

CHAPTER 7 To Badenoch

CHAPTER 8 Loch nan Uamh

Image Section

Epilogue

Timeline

Bibliography

List of Maps

The Complete Journey

From Drummossie Moor to Loch Lochy

Towards Arisaig

Lewis and Harris

Benbecula and South Uist

Northern Skye and Raasay

Sligachan to Elgol

Knoydart to MacEachen’s Refuge

Crossing the Rough Bounds

To Glen Cannich then southwards

Loch Garry to Achnacarry

Towards Fort Augustus

To Badenoch

From the Cage to Glen Roy

Towards the West Coast

To Loch nan Uamh

Following the Prince’s flight

Acknowledgements

MY JOURNEY WOULD not have happened without the support and encouragement of Nicola, my wife. This book is dedicated to her and also to my children Sophie, Kara and Abbie who mean the world to me.

I owe a big debt of gratitude to the support team who helped keep the home fires burning whilst I was away: Diane, Janet, Susan, Carol, Gordon, Emma-Louise, Mum and Dad.

Thanks to Gavin MacDougall for his encouragement. The knowledge that Luath Press were behind me helped from day one of the trip.

I really appreciated all the friendship, support and help that I was given on my journey. Not least from my old friend George, my new friend Alistair MacEachen and from Deirdre MacEachen, Bob Forgie, Sarah at Arisaig House and Lyn at Raasay House Outdoor Centre,

Finally a special thanks to Kate Fawcett, Ian Scott and Kirsten Graham who proof read the manuscript, sorted out my grammar, spelling, inaccuracies and provided helpful suggestions.

Foreword

THERE IS NO better way to appreciate history than to visit the places touched by it. I constantly impress this point on my students, most particularly when studying battlefields – if you are to have any chance of understanding what happened at Flodden, Culloden or Waterloo you really need to visit the ground, walk it and appreciate the terrain – only then will you understand the decisions that commanders made and why events unfolded as they did. The same is true of any journey made by people in the past. While we cannot walk in someone else’s shoes nor perhaps not even in their footsteps, we can get an idea of the challenges any arduous route throws up and the emotions which the landscape might elicit. Anyone who doesn’t believe that only needs to read this book to be convinced otherwise.

Gregor is by no means the first person to be attracted to the epic journey taken by Charles Edward Stuart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, during his time as a fugitive following defeat at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746. I recall many years ago watching the TV series ‘In the Footsteps of Bonnie Prince Charlie’ with Jimmie MacGregor, and then there is the book ‘Walking with Charlie’ by Steve Lord, to name but two examples. Of course, Jimmie MacGregor didn’t walk the whole route and although Steve Lord walked more of it, he negotiated it in sections, returning to the comfort of his home for long stretches before taking up the trail again. Gregor’s journey was different – he did the whole thing in a single stint over a period of six weeks, and it’s the first time that anyone has done that, apart from Charlie of course.

One of the strengths of this man and dog travelogue, which as such takes its place alongside John Steinbeck’s aptly titled but totally unrelated ‘Travels with Charley’, is the neat way it stitches together history with the writer’s personal journey. The balance is perfect and even a supposed expert like me comes away feeling I’ve learned something thanks to Gregor taking me back to 1746 when he reaches the relevant points on his walk.

The real star of the show however isn’t Gregor, and not even his trusty sidekick, Meg the dog, it’s the landscape of northwest Scotland and the isles. I spent the later part of my childhood in that part of the world and return to it whenever possible. I would challenge anyone to read this book and not by the end of it want to strap on their walking boots and get onto the hills and into the glens. But beauty comes with a price and the unforgiving nature of the place looms large here. It is in sharing Gregor’s difficulties in coping with what, despite the roads and ferries, still comes across pretty much as a wilderness that we get a vivid idea of the straits in which the Prince found himself. It was a long walk from Culloden to the shores of Loch nan Uamh, from where the Prince was finally picked up by a French ship, and there were a lot of detours and encounters with people on the way, and the following pages do much to bring that journey without maps to life.

As an archaeologist I am perhaps most familiar with the starting point for that journey, having carried out various surveys and excavations of the battlefield at Culloden, and it was there, several years ago now, that I ended a journey into the past of my own. A friend and I had the bright idea of recreating another walk made by Bonnie Prince Charlie, the night march which the Jacobite army made in attempt to surprise the Duke of Cumberland in camp at Nairn on the night of 15–16 Arpil 1746. We decided to do it in period kit, carrying the weapons of the day and accompanied by a platoon of eager re-enactors. We set out from Culloden House, where Charles had set up his HQ, at around seven o’clock in the evening with a spring in our step and the press in tow. However, as the night drew on the fatigue set in. Swords and muskets, which at first seemed to weigh nothing, began to show their true colours. By the time we got within a couple of miles or so of Nairn, at around two in the morning, by which time I had already abandoned my sword and musket, we were all shattered and decided to a man to turn back, at a spot which can’t have been that far away from where the Jacobite army decided to call it a night. So, we turned and headed back, this time for Culloden battlefield.

I arrived there at around five thirty in the morning to find just a couple of the others hanging around. Plans to have some sort of assembly at the clan monument were forgotten as weary men melted away back to their homes. It was at that point I realised I could barely move – my thighs and nether regions were in agony after wearing a kilt (full plaid) for over 20 miles. When I got back to my hotel – which shamed me as those who made the journey in 1746 then had to fight a battle – I could barely make it into the bath. Later that day I learned that less than half the party had made it back to Culloden without the aid of a support vehicle and one among us was in hospital after going over on his ankle in the dark.

There had been some talk of retracing the Jacobite march to Derby, a much more ambitious undertaking, but after that night it was never a conversation injected with much enthusiasm. The Nairn walk had however been a success, in that it had shown just how big a mistake that march in 1746 had been. The Jacobites would have been far better off getting what rest they could before the battle rather than wasting all that energy on what turned out to be wild goose chase. That experience also helped me appreciate just how big an accomplishment Gregor’s epic 500 mile journey had been, and for that I take my blue bonnet off to him. There is a rumour that his next expedition will follow the advances made by the Marquis of Montrose in the mid 1600s. If it is then I hope the road rises up to meet him, and Meg of course.

Tony Pollard

Loch Fyne

February 2013

Notes on the text

Although I believe imperial measures give most people a better sense of perspective (thus my subtitle!) I had no option but to think metric during my journey because that’s the way maps are made. I apologise to any imperial thinkers, but as a reminder:

1 kilometre = 0.6 Mile.

Everyone has their own method of working this out, but to get miles I half the kilometre distance and add 20 per cent.

Where Gaelic words are included in the text, landscape features are named as they appear on Ordnance Survey maps. A few of the more commonly repeated words are:

‘Bealach’ Pass or a low point between two hills

‘Allt’ Burn or stream.

‘Coire’ Corrie, a hollow in the side of or between two hills.

‘Sgurr’ Rocky or steep peak

‘Beinn’ Mountain or peak

‘Meall’ Rounded hill

‘Sron’ Nose, point

Prologue

ON 23 JULY 1745, Charles Edward Stuart landed on the Isle of Eriskay in the Western Isles. With no money, arms or troops and only seven attendants he aimed to restore his father, James, to the unified throne of England, Scotland and Ireland. The Prince had not set out from France entirely empty handed, but a second accompanying ship carrying 700 troops, money and armaments was badly damaged in a skirmish with a British man-of-war en-route, and was forced to return to France.

Without French assistance, Highland chiefs who had previously pledged their support, now refused to rise, but, by the sheer force of his personality, Charles managed to convince them, one by one, to rally to his cause. In a key moment at Arisaig, Charles convinced Donald Cameron of Lochiel to raise his clan, support which was instrumental in helping the rising to gather momentum.

The standard was famously raised at Glenfinnan on 19 August 1745. Significant numbers of men were rallied; Lochiel provided 700 Camerons and MacDonald of Keppoch brought 300 of his clansmen. The government’s response was to offer a £30,000 (approximately £1,000,000 in today’s terms) reward for the capture of Charles.

The Jacobites travelled light and fast, moving south over the Corrieyairack Pass where a government army commanded by General Cope refused battle and retreated back to Inverness. The Highlanders formed an immediate bond with their Prince, who led from the front and marched with the men.

Thus, by early September with hardly a blow struck, the town of Perth was captured and occupied in the name of James VIII. Charles appointed Lord George Murray as Lieutenant General. Murray was a capable soldier, but the subsequent breakdown in the relationship between these two men was a key factor in how the campaign eventually played out.

Edinburgh was captured without bloodshed on 17 September. The Highlanders streamed into a gate left open by the deputation who had been parleying with Charles outside the city. The Prince was declared regent and housed himself in Holyrood Palace.

Missing image file

Bonnie Prince Charlie (1892) by John Pettie.

At Holyrood with young MacDonald of Clanranald on the left and Cameron of Lochiel on the right.

On 21 September, the Jacobites won the Battle of Prestonpans, defeating General Cope’s government troops in less than ten minutes. The only army in Scotland opposing the Jacobites was removed.

Charles established his reputation as the young chevalier: magnanimous, handsome, popular. On 10 October, he issued a declaration to revise the Act of Union between Scotland and England. (McLynn, F; Bonnie Prince Charlie; Pimlico, London; 2003)

A council of war was held to consider an invasion of England. A vote was taken and the decision to invade was made with a majority of only one vote. Charles wished to attack General Wade’s army at Newcastle, but he eventually acceded to Lord George Murray’s invasion plan, avoiding the confrontation with Wade’s forces.

In November the Prince crossed into England at the head of 4,500 troops, and after a brief siege Carlisle was captured. The march south continued without any interference but, other than a regiment of 400 formed at Manchester, few rallied to the Prince’s cause.

On 5 December, the army reached Derby having avoided any set battles and outmanoeuvring the opposition at every turn. The downside of this strategy was that there were now government forces to their flank as well as behind them. Furthermore, a Hanoverian spy informed the Jacobite council of war that a third government army was waiting at Northampton, ready to protect London.

The Jacobites were hindered by the lack of credible intelligence available to them. They were unaware that this third army was a fabrication. Neither did they realise that General Wade’s army was still many miles behind them, nor that the Duke of Cumberland’s army may not have been able to intercept the Jacobite army had it made a dash for London (Duffy, C; The ’45; Cassell, London; 2003).

With no additional military aid arising, Charles’ promises of a French invasion and, significant support from English or Welsh Jacobites had been laid bare. A council of war voted unanimously to retreat, much to the Prince’s contempt.

The retreat began on 6 December, with Charles in a sour mood. English towns were much more hostile on the way north. A skirmish took place at Clifton, 12 days later, where Cumberland’s Cavalry and Dragoon infantry were rebuffed. The Prince refused to release more troops preventing a possible full-scale victory.

On 26 December, the Jacobites entered Glasgow and Charles reviewed his army on Glasgow Green. The Prince found few active supporters in this town, which had gained prosperity since the Act of Union.

On 17 January, the Battle of Falkirk took place on the moors above the town. General Henry Hawley’s forces were sent packing back towards Edinburgh. Charles wanted to follow up the victory by marching on the capital right away but Lord George Murray opposed this. With the support of the Clan Chiefs, Lord George wanted to retreat to the Highlands to re-launch the campaign in the spring, which Charles reluctantly accepted.

With Charles ill, leaving the command of his forces to Lord George Murray and others, the Jacobites achieved various small victories against the remaining government troops in Scotland. However, as Cumberland’s army approached, the Jacobites failed to defend the River Spey, a key geographical barrier.

An audacious night attack on Cumberland’s army was abandoned on 15 April. At 2am, Lord George calculated that the Jacobites would fail to reach the government encampment before first light and called off the attack. (Duffy, C; The ’45; Cassell, London; 2003)

Etchings of Charles Edward Stuart and William The Duke of Cumberland.

Courtesy of Inverness Museum and Art Gallery

Despite the protests of Lord George Murray and others, Charles was determined to do battle at Culloden on 16 April. The tired, out-numbered Jacobites were drawn up on Drummossie Moor to await the Duke of Cumberland’s army.

(Except where otherwise noted, based on dates and events contained in Itinerary of Prince Charles Edward Stuart by WB Blaikie and published by the Scottish History Society in 1897.)

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

I HAVE HAD A long felt desire to escape to Scotland’s hills. To spend weeks amongst stunning scenery that stirs the blood, high mountains, wide valleys and hidden glens. Enjoying unbounded freedom and tranquillity in an unspoiled landscape. Being in tune with oneself, melding with the natural environment; reaching a mountaintop with stunning views in all directions; wild camping beside an overshadowed lochan or on a small plateau beside a mountain stream; enjoying the primitive calmness of sitting, well fed, around a campfire; the fulfilment of resting with a light-headed tiredness that comes after a day’s exertion; being totally responsible for oneself and buzzing from the increased confidence that self-sufficiency brings. All this may sound a little naïve: you can be soaked through to the skin in no time and walking in mist all day. The novelty of camping can soon wear off. Injuries can happen. Crucial equipment can be forgotten, broken or left out in the rain. Midges can drive you to murder/suicide/another continent. Countless things can go wrong. But even after years of experiencing what Scotland’s outdoors can throw at you, the desire still burned bright.

For a long time, such a journey was simply a pipe dream. I had a busy job, and a young family. Could the desire be simply a reaction to an increasingly difficult career and the responsibility of family life? Where was that free time I enjoyed when young and single? And what had I done with that free time? Sadly, precious little. Now when I wasn’t helping around the house, entertaining the kids or working extra hours, I really appreciated time alone. The occasional weekend was the best I could muster. Climb a few hills, stay out overnight, climb a few more hills and home. Great fun? Yes! But it still didn’t placate my desire, I needed something more. I wanted my escape to be a sufficient length of time to shake off the modern world. A chance to draw breath and take stock, allowing reflection to happen at a natural pace. Tuning in to my surroundings and allowing the mind to relax, whilst pushing myself physically to see if I could survive for a sustained period of time.

As the years passed, the desire lingered just below the surface, popping up on holidays in the West Highlands or occasional camping weekends. Then in 2010, ironically thanks to the economic recession, came the opportunity to fulfil the dream. I had been running a family owned retail business operating in Falkirk. But from 2007 trading became increasingly difficult. The credit crunch saw people spending less on big household items such as carpets and furniture, the very goods on which the family business had been founded. Three years later I made the difficult decision to stop trading. Keeping this a secret while I took time to make doubly sure it was the right decision was terrible and the pressure weighed heavily on me. A summer holiday in Dumfries nearly ended in divorce. However once I had told my family, staff, customers and suppliers a great weight was lifted from my shoulders and following a final sale the business stopped trading.

Whilst searching for a new career, I realised I had an opportunity to make my escape. At the same time my kids were all now at school and that little less dependent on my wife, Nicola and I. True, I seemed to spend an increasing amount of time as a taxi driver but we had now shifted to the stage where my daughters wanted pals not parents. The guilt at the thought of leaving them all for a few weeks began to dissipate and with the big 40 just around the corner and the realisation that I wasn’t getting any younger, the thirst for the big adventure loomed larger than ever.

I needed a plan. Disappearing into Glen Affric for a few weeks didn’t appeal for an extended journey. Despite the beauty of the surroundings, how would I fill my time once I was there? I could climb all the hills in the locale, swim in the loch and hang out at my campsite but this lacked purpose. I wanted to undertake some form of meaningful journey in the hills. Being keen on history, I have always been fascinated with the old tracks, pathways and coffin or drove roads that criss-cross the landscape. The lesser known the path, the better as the feeling of discovery always added to the fun. To walk on an ancient pathway thinking of ancestors who traipsed the same roads for a particular purpose added another dimension to any journey. I decided then that I wanted my escape to combine history and remote terrain. I needed a substantial journey with some form of historical significance. That is where I turned to the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his wanderings.

Having spent a good deal of time in the north-west of Scotland, the Jacobite Rising of 1745–46 fascinated me greatly. In this area, the Prince landed and raised the Highland Clans before